Editor’s Introduction
Senryu is a short poetic genre which focuses on people. Men, women, husbands, wives, children, and relatives. It portrays the characteristics of human beings and the psychology of the human mind. Even when senryu depict living things such as animals, insects, and plant life, or when they depict inanimate objects, they are portrayed with the emphasis on their human attributes.
The senryu can make use of poetic devices such as simile, personification, and metaphor. It can also employ puns, parody, and satire. Unlike haiku, senyru are not reliant on a seasonal or nature reference, but they DO occasionally use them. When they do, it is secondary to the human comedy or drama underlying the poem.
Senryu are not all strictly intended to be humorous. Many senryu express the misfortunes, the hardships, and the woe of humanity.
Alan Pizzarelli – Quoted by permission of the author from “Mind Zaps“.
Senryu Circle 